Best type of leisure battery?

[merl]

Get the charger sorted Marie, no matter what brand your current one is it certainly shouldn't be cooking the battery in the way you suggested it was. In order to get a battery warm it must be putting in 60-70 watts, that's approx 5 amps at 14V so something is going wrong somewhere. I'd be extremely cautious about connecting my brand new battery to it.

 

[trevskoda]

Get the charger sorted Marie, no matter what brand your current one is it certainly shouldn't be cooking the battery in the way you suggested it was. In order to get a battery warm it must be putting in 60-70 watts, that's approx 5 amps at 14V so something is going wrong somewhere. I'd be extremely cautious about connecting my brand new battery to it.

Its nothing to do with the amps, its because its not smart and switch itself of and go into float/maintanance mode, cheap as chips these days.

 

[merl]

Its nothing to do with the amps, its because its not smart and switch itself of and go into float/maintanance mode, cheap as chips these days.View attachment 131006View attachment 131007View attachment 131008View attachment 131009

It's EVERYTHING to do with amps Trev, no amps no energy. Those chargers you linked to will work safely because they automatically limit the Amps, something that the existing charger should also be doing but doesn't seem to be doing. How can you tell that the existing charger is delivering excessive current when it shouldn't? Because the battery is getting warm and it most definitely shouldn't be.

 

[trevskoda]

It's EVERYTHING to do with amps Trev, no amps no energy. Those chargers you linked to will work safely because they automatically limit the Amps, something that the existing charger should also be doing but doesn't seem to be doing. How can you tell that the existing charger is delivering excessive current when it shouldn't? Because the battery is getting warm and it most definitely shouldn't be.

Many chargers can hit 30/40 amps but are smart, a old 1 amp charger or less will hold a battery.
The units fitted to older vans is more a power supply and a 13.6 float which will never full charge a battery, but will over time boil it dry if left on 24/7

 

[merl]

Many chargers can hit 30/40 amps

You're talking about the CHARGE phase here Trev, little to no heat is generated during this phase because the energy absorbed by the battery is being converted to chemical energy, ie CHARGING. If you force a battery to accept current AFTER this phase then the battery will dissipate that power in the form of heat.
The battery in question was getting warm ( I think Marie even mentioned Hot so an inordinate amount of current was being forced into the battery after it was unable to accept any further charge (this can only be done by enough/excessive voltage BTW) .
To get something with the surface area of a battery to get hot (in open air) would take considerable power, I'd estimate at least 40-60 watts continuous to get a little warm to the touch, it would be a lot higher than this if it was actually getting hot, maybe a hundred watts plus. Electrical energy requires current ( but current is driven by voltage) so as I said, too much current (after the battery is fully charged) is making it warm/hot.

 

[trevskoda]

You're talking about the CHARGE phase here Trev, little to no heat is generated during this phase because the energy absorbed by the battery is being converted to chemical energy, ie CHARGING. If you force a battery to accept current AFTER this phase then the battery will dissipate that power in the form of heat.
The battery in question was getting warm ( I think Marie even mentioned Hot so an inordinate amount of current was being forced into the battery after it was unable to accept any further charge (this can only be done by enough/excessive voltage BTW) .
To get something with the surface area of a battery to get hot (in open air) would take considerable power, I'd estimate at least 40-60 watts continuous to get a little warm to the touch, it would be a lot higher than this if it was actually getting hot, maybe a hundred watts plus. Electrical energy requires current ( but current is driven by voltage) so as I said, too much current (after the battery is fully charged) is making it warm/hot.

I know all this, anyway 40/60w is only about 3 amps, i do have a city & gilds radio amature and did have to study electrickery for a year, i also used to rewire cars bikes and kit cars for folks, still say ditch the old van unit and fit a smart charger, it wont bu--er batteries.

 

[merl]

40/60w is only about 3 amps,

Depends on the voltage (Volts X Amps = Watts) AND you said "it's nothing to do with amps" remember AND what kind of charger supplies 3A during the float stage?? Answer.... A knackered one!
Anyroad up, I think Marie gets the message from both of us Trev, the charger really needs updating. Yep David (I think he's replacing the battery for her?) or anyone else could measure the OP voltages and confirm they are OK but its already cooked a battery and could have an intermittent fault, from the evidence, I wouldn't trust it.

 

[trevskoda]

Depends on the voltage (Volts X Amps = Watts) AND you said "it's nothing to do with amps" remember AND what kind of charger supplies 3A during the float stage?? Answer.... A knackered one!
Anyroad up, I think Marie gets the message from both of us Trev, the charger really needs updating. Yep David (I think he's replacing the battery for her?) or anyone else could measure the OP voltages and confirm they are OK but its already cooked a battery and could have an intermittent fault, from the evidence, I wouldn't trust it.

Many foums have folk with boiling batteries, its about time van contructors started to fit up to date units, folks with older vans should upgrade.

 

[mariesnowgoose]

Battery no good so I spotted this today outside David’s and getting it for a van conversion instead

 

[wildebus]

well, as they say, if the battery doesn't fit, do something to make it fit

 

[TeamRienza]

Battery no good so I spotted this today outside David’s and getting it for a van conversion instead

Be careful what you wish for or think! We went out one day about 15 years ago to buy a replacement battery for our caravan and came home with a Motorhome.


Davy

 

[trevskoda]

Battery no good so I spotted this today outside David’s and getting it for a van conversion instead

View attachment 131044




View attachment 131045

These make fab campers, i seen one in donegal and a good job the chap had made of it, six birth as he had squilions of kids, no rubber sold down south.
Here are a few to look at.

 

[barryd]

These make fab campers, i seen one in donegal and a good job the chap had made of it, six birth as he had squilions of kids, no rubber sold down south.
Here are a few to look at.View attachment 131057View attachment 131058View attachment 131059

Brown leather though Trev? Did they lift them out of a 1970s bus?

 

[guerdeval]

I’ve found you an electric one !

 

[trevskoda]

Brown leather though Trev? Did they lift them out of a 1970s bus?

Looks good to me, better than some flowery outfits iv seen in girly vans.

 

[barryd]

Looks good to me, better than some flowery outfits iv seen in girly vans.

"Jobby" broon!

 

[merl]

"Jobby" broon!

Yeh, skid mark proof.

 

[wildebus]

Battery was almost certainly knackered given the age of it and more than likely lost some acid.
Checking the charger, it was as expected, putting out a lowish "power supply" type of voltage which is ok for limited use but you wouldn't want to run it like that for days and days ideally. However ... the voltage it is putting out is within the 'standby voltage' of the new Lead Carbon battery so while it won't give the battery a full charge it also won't do any damage. It is a simple matter of connecting up a smart charger to the battery directly via an newly-added anderson plug if an optimum charge is wanted though, and the built-in charger can be turned on and off via the control panel as need be.

The new Lead Carbon battery is typical of that type of battery in that it is happy to sit at a PSOC (Partial State of Charge), unlike regular Lead Acid batteries that should be fully recharged ASAP to give those batteries the best service life.
This PSOC feature means that no harm is done with the built in charger not reaching the optimum charge voltage; However the basic split-charge relay will send a voltage in excess of 14.V to the battery so that will give the battery the charge it requires to top up on a drive. (another benefit of the Lead Carbon batteries is their charge voltage is lower than standard Lead Acid Batteries).

 

[mariesnowgoose]

Brown leather though Trev? Did they lift them out of a 1970s bus?

Looks good to me, better than some flowery outfits iv seen in girly vans.

Trev thinks it still is the 70s!
That's probably what the interior of the Garratt Club looks like (except theirs will be a posher version) or the occifers' mess at the army barracks

Thank you so much David for your time and patience, a super job and I now know how everything electric works on the van - well, all the bits you can see anyway!

Made a nice change to have a night away somewhere in the van on my own.

As for the "girly van" touch, Mr Skoda, I'll have you know that Neil actually likes the bedlinen and throw in ours
The cushions he draws a line at. No problem; they get left at home when we're both in the van or he's on his own

 

[merl]

Battery was almost certainly knackered given the age of it and more than likely lost some acid.
Checking the charger, it was as expected, putting out a lowish "power supply" type of voltage which is ok for limited use but you wouldn't want to run it like that for days and days ideally. However ... the voltage it is putting out is within the 'standby voltage' of the new Lead Carbon battery so while it won't give the battery a full charge it also won't do any damage. It is a simple matter of connecting up a smart charger to the battery directly via an newly-added anderson plug if an optimum charge is wanted though, and the built-in charger can be turned on and off via the control panel as need be.

The new Lead Carbon battery is typical of that type of battery in that it is happy to sit at a PSOC (Partial State of Charge), unlike regular Lead Acid batteries that should be fully recharged ASAP to give those batteries the best service life.
This PSOC feature means that no harm is done with the built in charger not reaching the optimum charge voltage; However the basic split-charge relay will send a voltage in excess of 14.V to the battery so that will give the battery the charge it requires to top up on a drive. (another benefit of the Lead Carbon batteries is their charge voltage is lower than standard Lead Acid Batteries).

Good work and fast service too